Monday, January 29, 2007
Work
Hello
Sorry for the lack of blog but I got myself a job that is rather time consuming.
I'm working as a chef at this surfy themed kind of beach bar/restaurant called 'Breakers'. It's a really nice place and it's quite new.
The hours are rather shocking though - 9.30am to 11.30pm 6 days a week... I plan to work for 3 pretty hardcore months. As i'm working so much I won't be spending any money at all but making lots so after the 3 months are up I can chill out and travel a bit for a good few months before thinking about getting another job. So for the time being i'm powering through until March 25th!! Not counting days or anything.
So really not much else to say. We hit the clubs of Tauranga (which is the nearest big town, only about 5 mins in a taxi) whivh was good. Music still shocking everywhere. It's like they are stuck in the 90's here, but was a good night. Work the next day was not so good..
Laurence headed off this morning to Raglan to do some surfing. A friend of his arrived the other day but they will be back to the Mount on Friday.
Right lots of other things I need to do in my precious time, like laundry at 11.50pm.. oh joy!
Miss everyone loads. Let me know what you all been getting up too :)
Andy
Sorry for the lack of blog but I got myself a job that is rather time consuming.
I'm working as a chef at this surfy themed kind of beach bar/restaurant called 'Breakers'. It's a really nice place and it's quite new.
The hours are rather shocking though - 9.30am to 11.30pm 6 days a week... I plan to work for 3 pretty hardcore months. As i'm working so much I won't be spending any money at all but making lots so after the 3 months are up I can chill out and travel a bit for a good few months before thinking about getting another job. So for the time being i'm powering through until March 25th!! Not counting days or anything.
So really not much else to say. We hit the clubs of Tauranga (which is the nearest big town, only about 5 mins in a taxi) whivh was good. Music still shocking everywhere. It's like they are stuck in the 90's here, but was a good night. Work the next day was not so good..
Laurence headed off this morning to Raglan to do some surfing. A friend of his arrived the other day but they will be back to the Mount on Friday.
Right lots of other things I need to do in my precious time, like laundry at 11.50pm.. oh joy!
Miss everyone loads. Let me know what you all been getting up too :)
Andy
Monday, January 22, 2007
Back at the Mount
Hello.
Well after a very nice and relaxing couple of weeks in Gissy, Laurence and I headed back to Mount Maunganui yesterday. From one beach to another :) It was really nice in Gissy and the people there were great. I'll definitely be back. Maybe for my birthday in March. We have also realised it is stupidly cheap there compared to other places. I paid $80 a week there which is like 25 pounds. Gissy has a lot of long stays (probably due to the price) so it's got a really good atmosphere there.
Anyway it's still baking hot. We have been looking for jobs this morning and will update if anything comes of it, Laurence is a looking for a bit of evening work too. I plan to be here for a while, I like it here. Nice clean modern town, all the streets and buildings look brand new, gorgeous beach, nice people.
Here is a piccy I found of Mount Maunganui. You can walk up the 'Mount' and it has amazing views so I shall walk up it ..one day. It's too damn hot right now though. The town carries on a bit out the photo and so does the beach which is where Laurence does his surf instructing.
You can see because of the location of the peninsula we get the ocean beach and a harbour beach which is cool. As well as hot pools at the base of the mount. As they say here c-h-o-i-c-e.
Anyway time is running out. So I best be off.
Andy
Well after a very nice and relaxing couple of weeks in Gissy, Laurence and I headed back to Mount Maunganui yesterday. From one beach to another :) It was really nice in Gissy and the people there were great. I'll definitely be back. Maybe for my birthday in March. We have also realised it is stupidly cheap there compared to other places. I paid $80 a week there which is like 25 pounds. Gissy has a lot of long stays (probably due to the price) so it's got a really good atmosphere there.
Anyway it's still baking hot. We have been looking for jobs this morning and will update if anything comes of it, Laurence is a looking for a bit of evening work too. I plan to be here for a while, I like it here. Nice clean modern town, all the streets and buildings look brand new, gorgeous beach, nice people.
Here is a piccy I found of Mount Maunganui. You can walk up the 'Mount' and it has amazing views so I shall walk up it ..one day. It's too damn hot right now though. The town carries on a bit out the photo and so does the beach which is where Laurence does his surf instructing.
You can see because of the location of the peninsula we get the ocean beach and a harbour beach which is cool. As well as hot pools at the base of the mount. As they say here c-h-o-i-c-e.
Anyway time is running out. So I best be off.
Andy
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Photo Time
Helloo,
Feeling rather hungover so spending most of the afternoon heat in an air conditioned internet cafe. You'll see i've joined the ranks and signed up to facebook at long last.
Last night was good. Altough we had to put up with vengaboys and the macarena.. Music is bizarre here. Radio stations are awful. I have just bought a tape converter for the car so we can listen to my iPod.
Umm what else. Still hot.
Some photos anyway..
Laurence catchin a wave at the local beach here in Gissy (Wainui Beach)
Sarah at Wainui
Gorgeous sky at Wainui
:)
Our trip to a brewery!
This is our new home for the time being. It's an old convent which is strange but it's a wicked place. You keep finding new stairs and doors everywhere. Bit spooky at night mind..
Cya
Andy, Drew, Rozza, Z Man
depending on who's readin :)
Feeling rather hungover so spending most of the afternoon heat in an air conditioned internet cafe. You'll see i've joined the ranks and signed up to facebook at long last.
Last night was good. Altough we had to put up with vengaboys and the macarena.. Music is bizarre here. Radio stations are awful. I have just bought a tape converter for the car so we can listen to my iPod.
Umm what else. Still hot.
Some photos anyway..
Laurence catchin a wave at the local beach here in Gissy (Wainui Beach)
Sarah at Wainui
Gorgeous sky at Wainui
:)
Our trip to a brewery!
This is our new home for the time being. It's an old convent which is strange but it's a wicked place. You keep finding new stairs and doors everywhere. Bit spooky at night mind..
Cya
Andy, Drew, Rozza, Z Man
depending on who's readin :)
Monday, January 15, 2007
Photo's So Far
Hey,
Here are a few snaps of New Zealand so far.
The Auckland Sky Tower. The glass floor was some what scary but I stood on it. I'm hard.
See.
The view was pretty awesome too.
The Auckland Sky Tower.
Rotorua. This was a perfectly normal lake in a public park that just erupted one afternoon in 2001 and covered the entire park in mud and rocks and all sorts. Ever since it's been rather active and lots of holes and mud pools popped up all over the park.
I put my hand in the water and it was lovely and hot but not boiling.
Ooohh, Aaahhh :)
This was so much cooler than it looks, it was just hard to take a picture at a big mud glob glob moment.
The rock boarding. This was John in a rubber ring that broke and deflated on this slide. He continued to wear it as a kind of tutu for the rest of the day.
Laurence on a duck
Laurence and Sarah on the ducks and John on a bodyboard
Some guy in a ring.
John and Laurence at the bottom.
The Beast. The duck. The UK number plate. The Devon Sticker. Sweet.
Ah what a nice waterfall.
Trev and John.
Well that's all folks. None of me! You'll have to wait to see how long the hair's getting. Mwah ha ha ha!
I'm off to the beach now. I started digging this awesome hole yesterday. I wonder if it's still there..
Muchos Love :)
Andy
Here are a few snaps of New Zealand so far.
The Auckland Sky Tower. The glass floor was some what scary but I stood on it. I'm hard.
See.
The view was pretty awesome too.
The Auckland Sky Tower.
Rotorua. This was a perfectly normal lake in a public park that just erupted one afternoon in 2001 and covered the entire park in mud and rocks and all sorts. Ever since it's been rather active and lots of holes and mud pools popped up all over the park.
I put my hand in the water and it was lovely and hot but not boiling.
Ooohh, Aaahhh :)
This was so much cooler than it looks, it was just hard to take a picture at a big mud glob glob moment.
The rock boarding. This was John in a rubber ring that broke and deflated on this slide. He continued to wear it as a kind of tutu for the rest of the day.
Laurence on a duck
Laurence and Sarah on the ducks and John on a bodyboard
Some guy in a ring.
John and Laurence at the bottom.
The Beast. The duck. The UK number plate. The Devon Sticker. Sweet.
Ah what a nice waterfall.
Trev and John.
Well that's all folks. None of me! You'll have to wait to see how long the hair's getting. Mwah ha ha ha!
I'm off to the beach now. I started digging this awesome hole yesterday. I wonder if it's still there..
Muchos Love :)
Andy
Gizzy
Hey Guys,
Still here in surfy gizzy. Just to let you know that I did buy some postcards in Hong Kong which I wrote and put stamps on but forgot to actually post.. I thought I would post them when I got to New Zealand instead which is what I did, but after posting realised I put them in the internal mail postbox (NZ post only)
So with the wrong stamps, the wrong country and the wrong postbox it may take a while for them to get to you.. My bad. I was in my jetlag induced coma at the time.
Sorry about the photos guys. I will get them done eventually. These interent cafes are basically grey boxes with internet and email. You can't do anything else on them. As soon as I find one with a USB and a desktop i'll get em up. I have seen laptops for $898 which is like 317 pounds (sorry no pound sign) so that may be the way forward once I have a job. A lot of guys have them and it's so much easier to keep track of music and photos.
The other day the surf was really bad so everyone from th hostel went up to this river where there is a massive rock face that you can slide down. Sounds bizarre but was so fun. Like one of those massive waterslides at huge water parks but made of rock.. There are some hilarious pics.
Laurence produced these rubber duck ring things which were so cool. If not a little small. People had bodyboards and rings and massive doughnuts. The evenings now consist of everyone in the hostel showing off who has the best bruises.. Laurence, Trev, Sarah and John (guys from hostel) all had wetsuits on and I only had boardies so I win obviously. We have decided to go back with some bigger inflatables (sp?) but will wait till the bruising has gone down..
Had possibly the hottest day yesterday so far and everyone was hungover which wasn't good. A night out in Gizzy reminded me and Laurence of being out in Bideford like 5 or 6 years ago. Not good. Still muggy and hot.. Just chilling out before I have to get a job. Probably in Mount Manganui, I liked it there. BBQ's, beaches, drinking etc for now though so i'm happy :)
Let me know what your all up to.
Andy
Still here in surfy gizzy. Just to let you know that I did buy some postcards in Hong Kong which I wrote and put stamps on but forgot to actually post.. I thought I would post them when I got to New Zealand instead which is what I did, but after posting realised I put them in the internal mail postbox (NZ post only)
So with the wrong stamps, the wrong country and the wrong postbox it may take a while for them to get to you.. My bad. I was in my jetlag induced coma at the time.
Sorry about the photos guys. I will get them done eventually. These interent cafes are basically grey boxes with internet and email. You can't do anything else on them. As soon as I find one with a USB and a desktop i'll get em up. I have seen laptops for $898 which is like 317 pounds (sorry no pound sign) so that may be the way forward once I have a job. A lot of guys have them and it's so much easier to keep track of music and photos.
The other day the surf was really bad so everyone from th hostel went up to this river where there is a massive rock face that you can slide down. Sounds bizarre but was so fun. Like one of those massive waterslides at huge water parks but made of rock.. There are some hilarious pics.
Laurence produced these rubber duck ring things which were so cool. If not a little small. People had bodyboards and rings and massive doughnuts. The evenings now consist of everyone in the hostel showing off who has the best bruises.. Laurence, Trev, Sarah and John (guys from hostel) all had wetsuits on and I only had boardies so I win obviously. We have decided to go back with some bigger inflatables (sp?) but will wait till the bruising has gone down..
Had possibly the hottest day yesterday so far and everyone was hungover which wasn't good. A night out in Gizzy reminded me and Laurence of being out in Bideford like 5 or 6 years ago. Not good. Still muggy and hot.. Just chilling out before I have to get a job. Probably in Mount Manganui, I liked it there. BBQ's, beaches, drinking etc for now though so i'm happy :)
Let me know what your all up to.
Andy
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Gisbourne
Hello from a baking hot Gisbourne.
Well it's been about a week since I last 'blogged'.. I have been on the move quite a lot.
I got to Auckland and slept for like 2 full days straight. Jet lag it seems hits me pretty hard. After a couple days of recovery I woke up and met my room mates, a couple guys from North Wales and a guy from Bristol. They took me drinking which made me feel lots better :) I wandered aound Auckland a bit. I got my sim card sorted, got a New Zealand bank account, a tax number, all the boring but important things done. Auckland was OK, nothing special, could have easily been Sydney or LA.
I had completely lost track of what the date was or even what day of the week it was but Laurence met me in Auckland a day or so after I woke up from my minin coma (friend from school) as he needed to do a few bits in the city too. We went to a chinese restaurant. My first actual meal after 2 weeks in Hong Kong.. Chinese. Mmmm.
Anyway the next day we packed up and left Auckland and drove to Mount Maunganui which is this totally awesome town on a really long beach. I could see myself spending most of the year there if I found a job. It was so nice and chilled but the weather decided to turn on us so we drove down to Rotorua (Lots of thermal pools, gysers etc) The place stinks of bad eggs due to the sulpher. It was actually awful. I don't know how people live there. But we saw lots of gurgling mud pools and have some pretty cool pictures but I forgot my camera so next time I'll try and get some pictures up here.
Saw the guys from North Wales again at this hostel. It still poured with rain so we decided to drive past the mountains to get some nice weather and Laurence had a lead on a job running this surf school for a week while the guy had to go away to compete in the nationals. The job was in Gisbourne and he got it which is pretty wicked.
Gisbourne is really nice, another beach town. It is sooo hot. Jealous?! We drove here yesterday through this massive gorge and because of the rain there had been a huge rock/mud slide which covered the entire road. We had to wait hours for them to get a digger and clear a lane but we had food in the car and we met some cool people in the jam! We are staying in an old convent in Gisbourne now, should be here for a week or so.
I'll get some photo's up soon.
Andy
Well it's been about a week since I last 'blogged'.. I have been on the move quite a lot.
I got to Auckland and slept for like 2 full days straight. Jet lag it seems hits me pretty hard. After a couple days of recovery I woke up and met my room mates, a couple guys from North Wales and a guy from Bristol. They took me drinking which made me feel lots better :) I wandered aound Auckland a bit. I got my sim card sorted, got a New Zealand bank account, a tax number, all the boring but important things done. Auckland was OK, nothing special, could have easily been Sydney or LA.
I had completely lost track of what the date was or even what day of the week it was but Laurence met me in Auckland a day or so after I woke up from my minin coma (friend from school) as he needed to do a few bits in the city too. We went to a chinese restaurant. My first actual meal after 2 weeks in Hong Kong.. Chinese. Mmmm.
Anyway the next day we packed up and left Auckland and drove to Mount Maunganui which is this totally awesome town on a really long beach. I could see myself spending most of the year there if I found a job. It was so nice and chilled but the weather decided to turn on us so we drove down to Rotorua (Lots of thermal pools, gysers etc) The place stinks of bad eggs due to the sulpher. It was actually awful. I don't know how people live there. But we saw lots of gurgling mud pools and have some pretty cool pictures but I forgot my camera so next time I'll try and get some pictures up here.
Saw the guys from North Wales again at this hostel. It still poured with rain so we decided to drive past the mountains to get some nice weather and Laurence had a lead on a job running this surf school for a week while the guy had to go away to compete in the nationals. The job was in Gisbourne and he got it which is pretty wicked.
Gisbourne is really nice, another beach town. It is sooo hot. Jealous?! We drove here yesterday through this massive gorge and because of the rain there had been a huge rock/mud slide which covered the entire road. We had to wait hours for them to get a digger and clear a lane but we had food in the car and we met some cool people in the jam! We are staying in an old convent in Gisbourne now, should be here for a week or so.
I'll get some photo's up soon.
Andy
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Hong Kong
Hello and welcome to the new blog. First a bit of background.
I'm Andy but you probably already know that. I'm 21 and i'm originally from North Devon but have been living in Bristol for the last year and a half.
On the 20th December I left all my friends and family behind for a most excellent adventure. A year away from England travelling and working around New Zealand. I have been once before for a couple of weeks and fell in love with the place.
Two of my bestest friends are currently living in Hong Kong (Robyn and Ben) So me and Robyn's boyfriend Adam decided to take the same flight out here (I had to stopover anyway) and spend Christmas and New Years with them. I will carry on to New Zealand but he will fly back home to England.
So Adam and I have a fairly easy and stress free trip up to Heathrow from Bristol apart from the fog which was awful. BA cancelled some short haul flights but we got away with no problems.
Landed in Hong Kong (For those that don't know him, Adam is really tall and so we blagged exit seats on the plane which made for a great flight with our legs stretched out as far as they could go for the entire 12 hours!)
Anyway Robyn and Ben met us at the airport, totally awesome to see them both again. We grabbed a drink at the airport and chatted before heading into Wan Chai where they live so we could dump our stuff before getting something to eat at the 'Winking Girl' a local restaurant place where we had some authentic chinese grub. Ads and I couldn't use the chopsticks to save our lives (Although I can now I am pleased to say)
So before Christmas we did all sorts of trips and excursions to peaks and piers and ferrys and theme parks which was really cool. Eating out every night which is nice and the food is mega cheap. Lots of drinking too of course! Christmas eve is rather a blur.
The Peak
With Adam and Robyn at the harbour waiting for a ferry
At the Peak with Nicki, Ben and Robyn.
Christmas Eve (Early on in the night believe it or not..)
Christmas day we had the present opening in the morning and then headed to an irish pub for christmas dinner which was like a mountain of food. Gorgeous though. The rest of the day we just kind of chilled out which was nice. Especially as we were all rather hungover..
Christmas Day!
Boxing day we headed to Lantau Island to see the big Budha and I met up with my cousin from Australia, Erin and her boyfriend Dean. I had met Erin before when I was in Sydney a couple years ago but hadn't met Dean before. That was good. They are heading to the UK after this trip and I was warning them how cold it would be, I don't know if they realised what a shock they are in for!
The Big Budha on Lantau Island
New Years Eve was amazing. We had drinks in the flat then headed out to Wan Chai where we spent the countdown and stayed there till 2ish I think before heading into the central area which was mega busy. We stumbled in at 6am so it must have been a good one :)
With Nicki, Adam, Neela, Rav, Robyn and Hannah on New Years Eve in the flat.
In Carnegies where we spent the countdown and celebrations!
Happy New Year!!
I'm Andy but you probably already know that. I'm 21 and i'm originally from North Devon but have been living in Bristol for the last year and a half.
On the 20th December I left all my friends and family behind for a most excellent adventure. A year away from England travelling and working around New Zealand. I have been once before for a couple of weeks and fell in love with the place.
Two of my bestest friends are currently living in Hong Kong (Robyn and Ben) So me and Robyn's boyfriend Adam decided to take the same flight out here (I had to stopover anyway) and spend Christmas and New Years with them. I will carry on to New Zealand but he will fly back home to England.
So Adam and I have a fairly easy and stress free trip up to Heathrow from Bristol apart from the fog which was awful. BA cancelled some short haul flights but we got away with no problems.
Landed in Hong Kong (For those that don't know him, Adam is really tall and so we blagged exit seats on the plane which made for a great flight with our legs stretched out as far as they could go for the entire 12 hours!)
Anyway Robyn and Ben met us at the airport, totally awesome to see them both again. We grabbed a drink at the airport and chatted before heading into Wan Chai where they live so we could dump our stuff before getting something to eat at the 'Winking Girl' a local restaurant place where we had some authentic chinese grub. Ads and I couldn't use the chopsticks to save our lives (Although I can now I am pleased to say)
So before Christmas we did all sorts of trips and excursions to peaks and piers and ferrys and theme parks which was really cool. Eating out every night which is nice and the food is mega cheap. Lots of drinking too of course! Christmas eve is rather a blur.
The Peak
With Adam and Robyn at the harbour waiting for a ferry
At the Peak with Nicki, Ben and Robyn.
Christmas Eve (Early on in the night believe it or not..)
Christmas day we had the present opening in the morning and then headed to an irish pub for christmas dinner which was like a mountain of food. Gorgeous though. The rest of the day we just kind of chilled out which was nice. Especially as we were all rather hungover..
Christmas Day!
Boxing day we headed to Lantau Island to see the big Budha and I met up with my cousin from Australia, Erin and her boyfriend Dean. I had met Erin before when I was in Sydney a couple years ago but hadn't met Dean before. That was good. They are heading to the UK after this trip and I was warning them how cold it would be, I don't know if they realised what a shock they are in for!
The Big Budha on Lantau Island
New Years Eve was amazing. We had drinks in the flat then headed out to Wan Chai where we spent the countdown and stayed there till 2ish I think before heading into the central area which was mega busy. We stumbled in at 6am so it must have been a good one :)
With Nicki, Adam, Neela, Rav, Robyn and Hannah on New Years Eve in the flat.
In Carnegies where we spent the countdown and celebrations!
Happy New Year!!
You should be allowed to dance on bars in England..
So here I am on the 3rd January 2007, about to pack my bag and head to the airport this afternoon for my flight into Auckland. I have had an awesome time here. It's totally crazy and I don't think I could actually live here but Robyn and Ben seem to love the mad place though which is cool :)
Right. I have a bag to pack. Over and out.
Andy X
